Stupid Baking

[Pinecone]

Yah for really really good brownies with no nasty nuts!!

[biochemgirl]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

turn rightside up before packing them away in Tupperware.

Assuming of course there are actually leftovers. There wouldn't be in our house.

[livius drusus]

You might think that, but they were sooo rich. I had two (end pieces, natch) and seriously thought my tummy was going to asplode. I was still full when I woke up!

[freemonkey]

I just made a dark chocolate cake and frosting from scratch for hubby's big birthday. It was the recipe from the side of the Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. I think I messed something up, though, because the cake is a bit flat & really heavy. And when I couldn't get it to release from the pans, I pushed the sides to manipulate it out and it stayed misshapen. It's possible I missed something because I cut the recipe in half to make a smaller cake. Then, the frosting seemed a little runny, even after beating it for a long time.

Oh well. I'm sure it will taste delicious, even if it is ugly.

[livius drusus]

Leavening agents can't always be easily halved. Although little seems to have stuck from my days of "helping" my mom bake, that I remember.

[Pinecone]

I've totally got those brownies cooling on top of my stove right this minute and the air smells all heaven chocolaty good! I even gave them the extra 10 woosie stirs recommended because that stuff is like mixing Willie Wonka playdough!

I'm trying to be good and save them until tomorrow.
maybe...

[livius drusus]

Even the corner pieces?! I couldn't possibly leave a corner piece until the next day. THAT'S MADNESS I TELLS YA!1

I can't wait to hear how they came out for you.

[Pinecone]

I just went down to check on them. They are still pretty warm, but the top is showing that it's going to have a nice thin crackle thing going on. too

[livius drusus]

[Pinecone]

Ok, here's the verdict! I did try them last night when they were still a wee bit warm and I was disappointed. They tasted more like a semi-sweet chocolate cookie than a brownie. Then I tried them again this morning. OMG! I don't know what they do sitting around but they definitely get sinfully dense and good. Just ate some more of them a few minutes ago and they are even better!

Anyone making these STAY out of them until the next day! They are incredibly rich. Think dark chocolate truffle turned into brownie form. I'm totally going to frost them in dark chocolate the morning after baking them next time because I'm awful that way.

[livius drusus]

Oh yes, they have to be fully cooled down before you can say they're done. I would never frost them myself, on account of the crackle top is my favorite part, but I still want to know how you'll go about it.

Poast frosting recipe!

[Pinecone]

I'm thinking the Pioneer Womans sheet cake frosting.

Unfortunately it will make a lot of frosting for a little 8x8 brownie pan but here is the recipe WITHOUT the nuts and altered a little.

Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan
Add 4 heaping tablespoons *cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
*This is where I put in 2 tablespoons of regular cocoa, and 2 of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa

Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pour over cake (brownies)

This is a dark buttery frosting that would go with a dark buttery brownie. I don't know if one could half the recipe? It looks possible.

[Qingdai]

There is another chocolate frosting recipe I like it's basically melt some semi-sweet baking chocolate then beat in whipping cream until it's fluffy.
Easy to make, easy to halve.

[Pinecone]

By the way ... when I went to get the frosting recipe I sliced off yet another thin ribbon of the brownie. You can do that. You could cut these brownies with a cheese slicer and get thin decadent brownie ribbons. SOMEONE HIDE THEM FROM ME!!

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by Qingdai

There is another chocolate frosting recipe I like it's basically melt some semi-sweet baking chocolate then beat in whipping cream until it's fluffy.
Easy to make, easy to halve.

That's yer basic ganache right there. Can't go wrong.

[Goliath]

I went through a "MUST BAKE CAKES!!1" phase when I was a kid. Once, I tried to make a coffee cake. It called for something along the lines of "one cup of coffee." For some reason, I thought the recipe was calling for coffee grounds.

The cake turned out horrible.

[Dingfod]

Another epic failure is mixing up baking powder with baking soda. Yuck.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I'm thinking the Pioneer Womans sheet cake frosting.

Unfortunately it will make a lot of frosting for a little 8x8 brownie pan but here is the recipe WITHOUT the nuts and altered a little.

Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan
Add 4 heaping tablespoons *cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
*This is where I put in 2 tablespoons of regular cocoa, and 2 of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa

Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pour over cake (brownies)

This is a dark buttery frosting that would go with a dark buttery brownie. I don't know if one could half the recipe? It looks possible.

She has a mocha frosting recipe in her cookbook, if you want it.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Even the corner pieces?! I couldn't possibly leave a corner piece until the next day. THAT'S MADNESS I TELLS YA!1

I can't wait to hear how they came out for you.

You can have my corner pieces! Middle pieces are where it's at.

By the way, liv:
Crabby Cook: The Baker's Edge Brownie Pan or The Single Greatest Invention in the History of Mankind

[livius drusus]

I saw that at ThinkGeek and thought it was awesome, but I have some reservations. For one thing, I don't like having to push the batter through with a spatula because that lessens the gloss on the crackly top, and pouring it into the maze without pushing may require more coordination than I have with a heavy mixing bowl. The other reservation is that in the pics there's this center gutter running through the top. I like a smooth top side.

[Ensign Steve]

from Lait Noir on Vimeo.

[freemonkey]

I made those cocoa brownies from page 1. I cut the recipe in half, baked them in a half(ish) size pan, and they were delicious. Chewy and cocoa-y.

[Bella]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

The cookies came out puffy. They're not disgusting like the awful canola fail, but they're dry, tall and generally uncompelling. I would never serve them to guests. I wanted them all chewy and crackled and crisp around the edges like in the picture.

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but this interested me in a past-professional sense.

I looked at your recipe and it says this at the bottom: "NOTE: This is an old-fashioned cakey sugar cookie."

Try AB's recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies. The best way that I've found to add cocoa to an existing recipe is to dissolve your chosen amount of cocoa powder (this is something that is best done by experimenting - I'd start with 1/4 cup of Dutch processed cocoa though I have used up to 1/2 cup in some recipes) in hot water so it makes a consistency of thick cream. This process "primes" the chocolate powder and makes it even richer in flavour, plus it absorbs better in the butter/sugar/egg mix. I always cool the chocolate and beat it into the eggs, and then add that to the already creamed butter/sugar.

Another hint: always take your cookies out of the oven when they don't look completely done. If you think they need a couple extra minutes, pull them out and let them cool on the sheet. Carry-over heat from the oven will cook your cookies all the way to done-done. If you cooked them in the oven all the way you'll end up with too-crisp cookies.

[livius drusus]

I don't think a thread that hasn't been posted on for a week counts as dead, so you're in the clear on that score.

Thanks for the cocoa tip. I doubt it would have fixed what was wrong with the puffy cookies (pretty sure that was the sugar), but I like the idea of it.

[Qingdai]

I'm going to try those brownies this weekend, but I'm going to include nuts.
And you can't stop me!